TORONTO: Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic reached the second round of the Toronto Masters here on Tuesday, with both men polishing their pre-US Open form.

Wawrinka put his comeback from knee surgery back on track with a 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 comeback win over Nick Kyrgios.

Wimbledon holder Djokovic eased to victory, beating Mirza Basic 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) after the Bosnian replaced orignal opponent Chung Hyeon of South Korea, who withdrew before the match with injury.

A pair of Canadian teenagers advanced, with Denis Shapovalov dominating Jeremy Chardy 6-1, 6-4 while good friend Felix Auger-Aliassime thrilled his home fans as he defeated Lucas Pouille of France 6-4, 6-3.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Wawrinka put 16th seed Kyrgios out with an impressive display after losing a one-sided opening set.

Wawrinka has been struggling to find his best form since returning to the ATP Tour after two knee operations a year ago and has slumped to 195 in the world rankings.

Wawrinka’s victory in just over two hours avenged a 2015 loss to Kyrgios in Canada, when the Swiss had to retire. That contest was also remembered for Kyrgios insulting his opponent’s girlfriend Donna Vekic.

Kyrgios, with green fluorescent tape encircling each kneecap, quit injured in last week’s Washington quarter-finals, and he was treated in the second set here for his chronically troublesome hip.

The 33-year-old Wawrinka broke late in the second set to level the match, and completed his fightback on a second match point as he also broke in the 12th game of the decider.

Djokovic, a four-time winner in Canada, double-faulted while serving for the match to slip into a second-set tie-break, but he finished the job for a second-round spot.

Djokovic win in 90 minutes with nine aces; he now stands 36-6 at the event and next plays Canada’s Peter Polansky.

Japan’s Kei Nishikori lost serve five times in a 7-5, 6-1 loss to Robin Haase of the Netherlands.

His defeat was the third in three matches for Japanese players after less than two days of play.

Russian Karen Khachanov reached the second round at the expense of Serb Filip Krajinovic 6-3, 6-2, while American Sam Querrey beat Adrian Mannarino of France 6-2, 7-5.

American Frances Tiafoe defeated Italy’s Marco Cecchinato 7-6 (7-3), 6-1, Greek rising star Stefanos Tsitsipas accounted for Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) and 14th seed Fabio Fognini, winner of two of his last three tournaments, beat American Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-4.

Meanwhile, former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, who was playing for first time since retiring in the San Jose quarter-finals, kicked off her WTA Montreal tournament by dismissing Kristina Mladenovic in straight sets.

Azarenka punched her ticket to the second round with a dominating 6-0, 6-1 victory in just 55 minutes over the former world number 10.

Azarenka, who needed a wildcard to get into the Montreal draw, moves on to the second round where she will face British No.1 Johanna Konta.

Azarenka stormed through the first nine games of the match before France’s Mladenovic got on the board.

The two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka eventually rolled through the final three games to get the victory in her first Montreal appearance since 2014.

Elsewhere, Maria Sharapova made quick work of Bulgarian qualifier Sesil Karatantcheva, easily winning 6-1, 6-2 in a renewal of their former teenage rivalry.

“No matter what tournament or who you’re playing against, you have to figure things out as you go. I think I did a good job of that today,” Sharapova said.

Sharapova, a finalist in 2009, performed solidly, defeating Karatantcheva for the fifth time in their five career meetings.

The pair were facing each other for the first time in eight years. They played their first three career matches as teenagers, including a fiery affair on the outer courts at the 2004 Indian Wells tournament.

World No.229 Karatantcheva was competing in her first WTA Tour main draw of the season.

Sharapova next faces another Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, who is ranked sixth in the world. Garcia came from behind to defeat Magdalena Rybarikova in three sets 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2018